I’ll definitely agree that we have a problem with boatloads of crap science being published every day. Also, I’m under no illusion that the articles I’ve rejected were never published. They were likely just published in some predatory journal with no peer review instead. I’ve actually hear of people coming across articles they’ve rejected published verbatim in some obscure journal they’d never heard of before.

Luckily, most people working in a field know what journals are trustworthy, and are themselves capable of recognising bullshit when they come across it. Unluckily, very few journalists and laypeople have the same insight.

I’ve fantasised about a model where governments go together to finance a series of open-access journals. This could finally end the chokehold that modern reputable journals have on academia, and serve to provide broader access to quality science to journalists and the population at large.